Character Creation: Difference between revisions
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
No edit summary |
No edit summary |
||
| Line 244: | Line 244: | ||
A Detached character is a person who is not interested in anything to do with Gods or religion or any of that 'social' stuff. Detached is basically an alignment for those players who are not heavily engaged in role-playing, or for those who are true outsiders in their society. Detached characters don't have any extreme positions, and are motivated by whatever advances their personal goals. They are not interested in following laws or advancing freedom at all costs, they are not advocates for doing good deeds and they are not interested in doing evil for the sake of evil alone. They aren't even very interested in the abstract working of deities, the 'Celestial Game'. Detached characters just want to do as they wish, and stay uninvolved. Detached is best for players that are not strong role-players, who just want to show up, be with their friends, roll dice, and get loot. | A Detached character is a person who is not interested in anything to do with Gods or religion or any of that 'social' stuff. Detached is basically an alignment for those players who are not heavily engaged in role-playing, or for those who are true outsiders in their society. Detached characters don't have any extreme positions, and are motivated by whatever advances their personal goals. They are not interested in following laws or advancing freedom at all costs, they are not advocates for doing good deeds and they are not interested in doing evil for the sake of evil alone. They aren't even very interested in the abstract working of deities, the 'Celestial Game'. Detached characters just want to do as they wish, and stay uninvolved. Detached is best for players that are not strong role-players, who just want to show up, be with their friends, roll dice, and get loot. | ||
If you are not Detached , then you are Engaged. An Engaged alignment is a lot more complicated than the 'don't bother me, I'm gaming' Detached alignment. Being Engaged means that your character is invested in the moral and ethical happenings of the game world. This means that you are interested, one way or another, in how the world views you, and how you affect the world. Now, this is a complex topic | If you are not Detached , then you are Engaged. An Engaged alignment is a lot more complicated than the 'don't bother me, I'm gaming' Detached alignment. Being Engaged means that your character is invested in the moral and ethical happenings of the game world. This means that you are interested, one way or another, in how the world views you, and how you affect the world. Now, this is a complex topic, and philosophers have been arguing about this for ages. In game terms, everything in the Engaged Alignments boils down to where your behavior inspiration falls on two complimentary tenets. Those two tenets are: | ||
*Good versus Evil, and, | *Good versus Evil, and, | ||
| Line 306: | Line 306: | ||
'''A note about Evil.''' "Evil" is a widely misunderstood state of being. It is common to believe that 'Evil' merely means 'selfish', and truth be told, there's a lot of truth to that. Taking what you want without regard to others IS a state of Evil. But that's not all there is to it. Evil can be, and often is, a philosophy. Some 'Evil' people and beings are considered 'Evil' because they genuinely believe that the tenets of Goodness are wrong-headed and foolish. Improving the lives of everyone, or even yourself, is not how the universe really works. Living a life of happiness and comfort does not lead to striving and reaching to be your strongest, greatest self. Real, genuine, EVIL means that happiness, comfort, heck, even wealth and power, are essentially just props. Doing real Evil means being almost Stoic in your outlook, only applying that mindset to yourself, and everyone else, to boot. Cruelty is better than kindness, enemies are more valuable than friends, suffering and loss and heartbreak are part of life and should be embraced and promoted, not shunned. | '''A note about Evil.''' "Evil" is a widely misunderstood state of being. It is common to believe that 'Evil' merely means 'selfish', and truth be told, there's a lot of truth to that. Taking what you want without regard to others IS a state of Evil. But that's not all there is to it. Evil can be, and often is, a philosophy. Some 'Evil' people and beings are considered 'Evil' because they genuinely believe that the tenets of Goodness are wrong-headed and foolish. Improving the lives of everyone, or even yourself, is not how the universe really works. Living a life of happiness and comfort does not lead to striving and reaching to be your strongest, greatest self. Real, genuine, EVIL means that happiness, comfort, heck, even wealth and power, are essentially just props. Doing real Evil means being almost Stoic in your outlook, only applying that mindset to yourself, and everyone else, to boot. Cruelty is better than kindness, enemies are more valuable than friends, suffering and loss and heartbreak are part of life and should be embraced and promoted, not shunned. | ||
Now, this mindset is radical | Now, this mindset is radical, and much better suited to Bad Guys and Monsters than player characters. Firstly, real-life players who dabble in Evil often find it creepy and disturbing, and rightly so! Secondly, playing an Evil campaign means that keeping the players working together can be difficult, to put it mildly. We present the Evil alignments partially as a role-playing opportunity for those who are interested in such explorations, and partly as guidelines for GM's on how to properly make monsters and bad guys behave in appropriately wretched ways. Approach with caution! | ||